Perfume and Conditioner
by rubysommers
Summary: James and Lily are paired together for potions class. Today's potion? Amorentia, the world's most powerful love potion. One shot!


Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, the wonderful J.K. Rowling does.  
This was a story idea I saw on tumblr and I thought it was cute, so I wrote it! I just quickly wrote it early in the morning, and I apologize for any mistakes. If you want, please leave a review at the end :)  
Enjoy!

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Lily was practically running as she rounded the corner. She wasn't going to ruin her perfect attendance because of stupid Potter and the other marauders' ridiculous shenanigans.

This time they, well mostly James and Sirius, thought it would be hilarious to put a run-away charm on all of her schoolbooks. This meant that nearly her entire lunch hour was spent chasing after her History of Magic and Potions books, causing her to be late for Potions class.

Nearly tripping over her robes, Lily dodged a large group of Hufflepuffs then slowed down as she neared the classroom door.

"Right on time," she breathed. She took a moment to recollect herself, running a hand through her hair and taking a deep breath, then she stepped into the classroom.

"Sorry I'm a little late, Professor," Lily said calmly with a small smile.

Professor Slughorn shook his head. "You are just in time. Please find a seat," he said. Lily nodded and scanned the classroom.

Spotting the only empty seat, Lily could feel the back of her neck beginning to blush with anger.

"Of course," she muttered to herself as she crossed the classroom. "It just _had_ to be the marauders."

Avoiding making eye contact with him, Lily set down her books and sat in the open seat next to James.

"You know… If you asked I would've taken the charm off and helped you pick up your books," James said, and Lily could hear the smile in his voice.

Lily didn't say anything as she took out her quill and her potions book. She focused her attention back on Professor Slughorn, trying to take her mind off James' sly smile, which she was sure was fixed on her.

"Today we will be making amorentia," Slughorn said loudly, clapping his hands together. "Can anybody tell me what amorentia is?"

"You know it… Don't you, Evans?" She could hear Sirius say quietly with a chuckle. "Raise your hand," he teased.

Lily rolled her eyes. Of course she knew the answer. Why wasn't anybody else in the class raising their hand? After a moment of hesitation, Lily raised her hand high above her head.

Delighted that somebody knew the answer, Slughorn smiled. "Lily?"

"It is the most powerful love potion that exists," she said quickly. Professor Slughorn nodded his approval of this answer then continued a lecture on the potion. However, Lily couldn't hear what he was saying because of the sly jokes James and Sirius were continuing to make.

"Maybe if I slip some amorentia in your drink you will go out on a date with me," James said quietly, so close to Lily that she could feel his breath. He was trying so hard to make her look at him.

Lily didn't want to give him the satisfaction and tried her hardest to ignore him, but she couldn't. She turned her head to glare at him, frustration and anger flickering in her eyes.

"That would be classified as drugging a witch, which is not only banned by the ministry, but it also proves that you are the ignorant and selfish jerk I though you were," she said so quickly it was almost inaudible. "But you are right… That is the _only_ way you could ever get _any _girl to go on a date with you."

Lily studied his face as it turned from a sly smile into a scowl. She tried to find enjoyment in his agitation, but damn she loved the way his messy hair stuck out from his forehead.

"Oh trust me, I can get many dates, Evans, but I am _your_ _only_ chance for one," he shot back.

"Guys, stop it and be quiet for a second. Slughorn is explaining the directions," Remus said quietly, shoving James in the shoulder. Not wanting to make truce, Lily and James exchanged deadly glares before looking back up at the front of the classroom.

"Now, turn to page 152 for the ingredients and directions. Remember to _crush_ the lacewing fly, not _cut_ the lacewing fly," said Professor Slughorn. "And we will be pairing up for this potion. Please pair up with whoever is sitting next to you."

Lily quickly looked to the Ravenclaw girl on her left, hoping more than anything that she wouldn't get stuck with James. Unfortunately, the Ravenclaw was already paired up with her friend, which meant Lily would be stuck with James.

"Well… This day just keeps getting better and better," Lily said under her breath, her voice thick with sarcasm.

James rolled his eyes and took a deep, agitated breath as he tried to control himself. He could hear Sirius and Peter chuckling, and James wanted to hex them. Remus was just sitting in his seat with a deeply concerned look on his face as he wondered how on earth they were going to get out of this class alive.

"Just stay out of my way. We all know you are going to mess this up, and I have to get a good grade in this class," Lily said, opening her potions book. James tried to maintain a scowl, but he couldn't take his eyes off Lily's vibrantly green eyes and the faded orange freckles on her milky white skin. He could see a faint pinkness in her cheeks as she flipped through the pages, and he wanted more than anything to just stare at her forever. But, James reminded himself, she was still angry with him and he was _supposed_ to be angry with her.

"Well?" Lily said in a very agitated voice, snapping James out of his trance. James didn't even realize she had been talking the entire time. "Are you going to get the asphodel or are you just going to be completely useless?" She continued.

James threw his hands up in surrender then stood up to go retrieve whatever the hell asphodel was. He was at the shelf with the ingredients when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"This is your time to shine, Prongs," Sirius said with a laugh.

James rolled his eyes, grabbed what he thought was asphodel, and then made his way across the crowded classroom back to Lily.

Lily was leaning over her cauldron as she began to stir some type of red liquid into it. Her fiery hair cascaded down across her face, but James knew that she had that small crinkle in her forehead that she always had when working.

Lily looked up at James and he could she was beginning to cool down, and she no longer looked angry, just somewhat annoyed.

"Thanks," she said quickly. "Can you hurry up and crush the lacewing flies?"

James nodded and stood next to her as he worked.

Lily continued to stir the potion as she checked, double-checked, and even triple-checked the ingredients and instructions. Half an hour passed and most of the class was still working when she neared the final step of the recipe.

"We just need to stir it for 4 minutes as we continue to heat it," Lily said. James wasn't sure if she was talking to him or to herself, so he just nodded.

"You are very good at making potions," he said quietly as he watched her work.

"Thanks," Lily said, not looking up from the cauldron. "But I am still mad at you, and just because you complimented me it does not mean that I am suddenly going to go out on a date with you."

James rolled his eyes. What was it going to take to get her to go on a date with him?

"Fine," he said quickly as he slumped into his chair, traces of annoyance lining his voice.

Lily nodded as she continued to stir the potion. She could feel James' eyes on her, and though she wanted to smack him, she couldn't help but feel a little flattered.

"Stop looking at me," she said quickly, never taking her eyes off the potion.

"Why?" He asked, and Lily rolled her eyes.

"Because. I told you to," she argued.

"Why are you looking for a fight?"

"I'm not looking for a fight."

She could practically feel James' eyes roll as he continued to look at her.

"Why do you want to hate me?" He asked quickly. "It only proves that you are shallow."

"I'm not shallow. _You're _the shallow one," Lily said, trying her hardest not to lose her temper. "You're the shallow one because you can't handle me disliking you."

James was silent for a second, rethinking what she said, and Lily felt extremely proud of herself for shutting him up.

"But—" he began.

"Just stop," Lily said loudly, cutting him off. "The potion is ready, so just stop talking and let's see if I did this correctly."

She carefully took the cauldron off the flame then set it on the desk. She waited a second for it to stop steaming then she leaned forward to look at the swirling, silver liquid. At first she was hesitant, but then she leaned over and smelled the potion. However, she couldn't smell anything other than James' conditioner.

"Well? Can you smell anything? If you did it right it's supposed to smell like your favorite things," James said quickly.

"I know what it is supposed to smell like," Lily said, on the verge of completely losing her temper. "And I can't smell anything over your damn conditioner! Why do you care so much about your hair!"

James rolled his eyes and leaned forward to smell the potion. After a second of smelling, he frowned and turned towards Lily.

"It's not my conditioner that is the problem, it's your stupid perfume! I cannot even smell the potion over the stupid smell of your rose perfume," James yelled back. "Are you sure that you followed the book exactly?"

Lily rolled her eyes and crossed her arms across her chest. "Yes I am sure!" She shouted. "I, like, triple-checked everything!"

"Sure," James said sarcastically, running a hand through his messy, black hair.

"Don't 'sure' me, Potter. If we didn't get this potion right then it's on you!" she said, shoving him in the shoulder. James winced then threw up his hands.

"Fine! Blame it on me!" he yelled back. Lily was silent as she turned back towards the potion. It was then that she realized the entire class had their eyes on them, even Professor Slughorn. Lily felt her cheeks turn red and she uncrossed her arms. Then it hit her.

"I ran out of my perfume a week ago," she muttered.

James looked at her, clearly still angry. Then, realizing what she meant, his cheeks turned a vibrant shade of red and his scowl faded.

"Oh," he stuttered, nervously running a hand through his hair.

At this, Sirius began laughing then hit James in the shoulder. "Well James isn't the only one who should be embarrassed. James didn't take a shower this morning because we woke up late for class! Which means, Evans, that prongs _didn't_ use conditioner this morning! You shouldn't be able to smell his conditioner at all," he said, laughing so hard he was nearly in tears.

Lily felt her entire face flush with warmth as some of the class began giggling. She leaned forward to take another whiff of the potion. Sure enough, her nose was flooded with the smell of James' conditioner. After Lily leaned back into her chair, James leaned forward. He cautiously smelled the potion, looking as though he was afraid of it exploding, and, of course, Lily's rose perfume filled his nose.

Well. This was something they didn't expect.


End file.
